Louise Chereau, winemaker at Muscadet’s Chereau Carré, hates Muscadet and oysters. Not that she hates drinking Muscadet with oysters. In fact, if you push her, she’ll admit it's as great a pairing as everyone says, and she does enjoy oysters with her Muscadet from time to time.
But the power of that pairing is the bane of her winemaking existence. She comes from a family that has been devoted, over at least three generations, to showing the world that Muscadet is one of France’s truly great wines of terroir. That it can age. And, of course, that it is utterly delicious with a whole range of foods.
Her grandfather is said to have invented lees-aged Muscadet (the “sur lie” part of the name). And while that is no doubt hotly contested, he was definitely one of the first to bring this more substantial style of Muscadet to the world.
Her father was an early champion of Muscadet’s single villages, the “Cru Communaux.” Today Louise bottles stunning wines that reflect the very different terroirs of these Crus. The wines have different soil signatures, and different fruit characters. They show the vintage character clearly (if you want to learn about recent Muscadet vintages, here’s your chance). And they age beautifully.
We loved Louise’s lineup and are thrilled to have four wines to share with you today, sampling three of Muscadet’s most famous terroirs over multiple vintages. Schist (terroir of the Chasseloir) gives Muscadet its classic profile (saline, citric, cutting, and, um, great with oysters). Granite (Clisson) gives broader, rounder wines with riper fruit and a creamier mid-palate; Clisson is the Cru we open when we want Muscadet with weight to go with, say, bone-in roasted pork chops with spring vegetables from the market. Orthogneiss (l'Oiselinière) is a hard, crystalline metamorphic rock, and sits somewhere in between the other two, offering tension and lift, often with a faintly herbal or pithy character as they age.
Comte Leloup du Château de Chasseloir 2019 $44.99
100+ year-old vines in schist at the family’s home vineyard. The site qualifies for Monnières-Saint-Fiacre Cru status, but Louise preserves her family tradition of aging the wine for “just” 14 months on lees — not quite long enough to label it a cru. Besides, they love the old label. Fresh and stony with salty lemon, and a surprisingly long mineral finish.
Comte Leloup du Château de Chasseloir 2014 $27.99
Same site, same winemaking, warmer vintage (more solar, as the French say). Less stony austerity, more detailed fruit, finishes with nice ripeness.
Clisson 'Le Sillon des Braudières' 2018 $39.99
Granite. Louis calls 2018 the perfect vintage: everything happened just when it needed to. Creamier, with Korean pear hinting at pineapple.
Clos du Château l'Oiselinière 'La Haie Fouassière' 2015 $39.99
Orthogneiss, from two hectares of 80-year-old vines at the top of a south-facing dome between the Sèvre and Maine rivers. La Haie Fouassière is the westernmost Cru Communal. Beautifully decaying minerals, leesy richness balanced by pithy lemon curd and an evolving herbaceous note the locals call menthol.
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